


We {HIATUS}

by SandyRoses



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Succubi & Incubi, Consensual Possession, Demonic Possession, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Growing Up Together, Human Hong Jisoo | Joshua, M/M, Not a lot though, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Sex Demon Jeonghan, Sharing a Body, Slice of Life, Smut, There's pretty much 0 conflict in this, e tag is for later scenes, jos joshua growing up with demon jeonghan by his side, why is that a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 15:53:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26520208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandyRoses/pseuds/SandyRoses
Summary: He's always been there, the pretty face in the corner of Joshua's vision, just barely visible. He's always been there, the gentle voice whispering into his ear in the edges of Joshua's hearing, so faint. He's always been there, the phantom touch of a hand holding Joshua's, warm with inhuman heat.They've always been together. Always.
Relationships: Hong Jisoo | Joshua/Yoon Jeonghan, Wen Jun Hui | Jun/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Comments: 22
Kudos: 93





	1. when he was younger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shuanime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuanime/gifts), [sunkissedjoon94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkissedjoon94/gifts), [DREAMMOONS (STARRYNlGHT)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARRYNlGHT/gifts), [kidultscoups](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kidultscoups/gifts), [snowdropshua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowdropshua/gifts), [minishedswords](https://archiveofourown.org/users/minishedswords/gifts), [http_cosmolio](/users/http_cosmolio/gifts).



> aight so yall on twt voted for an entirely new, long/chaptered story and here it is! there honestly isn't a whole lot of conflict in this story, just joshua growing up with jeonghan by his side, but i also actually really like this, so i hope you enjoy it as much as i do! i jos love my boys
> 
> and this first ch is a little short but they'll ramp up later ^-^

Joshua knew he was a pretty decent kid. He was faithfully Christian and went to church every Sunday, helped out with music lessons for the younger kids, stayed out of trouble in school, and was always up for helping his mom bake cookies.

So, when he first started noticing a demon following him one day, he was appropriately confused. At first it was just a pair of red-gold eyes watching him from the shadows, slightly narrowed, but later on, Joshua started seeing faces. Or a face, more accurately. As he walked home from school, he would glance to the side and see the most beautiful boy he’d ever set eyes on in his entire life, more gorgeous than any painting or sculpture, and then he would blink and the boy would be gone.

He knew it was a demon because his grandma told him. He’d absently mentioned seeing red eyes and a pretty face, and she’d grabbed his hands tightly, a warning look in her eyes.

 _“There’s an evil thing following you around, child, a demon. Stay on your toes and don’t give it your attention. That will only fuel its power,”_ she’d whispered gravely, and Joshua, rather alarmed, had nodded, though he was still faintly surprised. She talked like she’d encountered a demon before. Had she?

Joshua didn’t know, but whenever he saw the red eyes or the pretty face after that, he ignored them, turning away like a good Christian boy. If he told his mother or any of the people at his church, they would probably freak out and douse him in holy water, and he wasn’t looking for that, so he just did his best to ignore the lingering feeling of eyes on him, the phantom sensation of a body leaning over his shoulder.

What surprised him even more was that he wasn’t scared. Despite being raised very religiously with a rather eccentric grandma, he wasn’t scared of the strange being following him around. It didn’t keep him up at night, didn’t make him paranoid. It was just there, and he was beginning to think of the eyes as a particularly odd-looking cat, just sitting there lounging in the shadows like all cats did. The beautiful boy might just be a new kid in town who looked particularly ethereal. No biggie. Joshua knew he was skinny and kinda weak and awkward but he wasn’t a coward.

He wasn’t scared even when the demon started interacting with his things. He could get home and something would be different, whether it be a glass that got knocked over, or a potted plant that got shifted a couple inches to the side. Maybe his closet door would open late at night for no reason, startling him awake.

When any of that happened, he would just sigh and pick up the glass and set it down, grateful that his room had carpet on the floor, or readjust the plants (“whoever you are, don’t you dare mess with my succulents.”), or just roll over and go back to sleep. It wasn’t a big deal to him, and the demon hadn’t hurt him or anyone he cared about (the succulent incident left it on thin ice though), so he didn’t really care.

As he grew up, he got used to it. When he finished middle school and came home to a room that looked cleaner than before, he just smiled and went about his day. When red-gold eyes appeared in his vision, he blinked at them before returning to whatever he was doing. Whenever things around him got knocked over for no good reason, he would right them and then go back to his homework. Not a big deal to him; he genuinely didn’t mind all that much.

The first time he talked to the demon was during the summer between his sophomore and junior years of highschool, and he had stepped into his room to see all of his clothes strewn about the room, and, as someone who had been frustrated all day with a stupid honors English assignment, he wasn’t all that impressed.

“Really?” he’d said aloud, hands on his hips. “Really? I let you live in my house and pester my plants and _this_ is how you repay me? You need to start paying rent.”

As he spoke, one of the socks lying on his desk straight up rose into the air and snuck back into his open closet, like some kind of cotton snake trying to get away from an eagle. Joshua huffed through his nose; might as well make this demon work for him.

“Thank you. I’m going to leave and if this place isn’t cleaned up by the time I come back in, oh, let’s say two hours, then I’m spraying holy water everywhere and putting a cross on my bed.”

Another sock flew into his closet, and Joshua fought down a smile as he turned and left his room, closing the door neatly behind him. He knew he should be scared, especially after such a blatant display of supernatural power, but he wasn’t. He didn’t feel at all threatened, so why bother being scared? He wasn’t going to clean up the demon’s messes.

The very next day, he saw the demon sitting on his bed, cross-legged and casual, just as pretty as always, if not slightly...faded. It had definitely startled Joshua a little bit, to walk into his room and see the translucent image of a pretty boy sitting on his bed, but he knew immediately that the boy was the demon who had been following him around for the past couple years.

“...Hi,” he offered warily. “What are you doing here?” He wasn’t scared, but he wasn’t stupid either, and he knew to be wary. Seeing the demon up close, he was definitely beautiful, but it could have just been his demonic powers, and Joshua knew not to give into temptation.

“I just wanted to say hello to the person I’ve been haunting,” the boy shrugged, and his voice was nice, twangy and breathy and pleasant. “So, hello.”

Joshua looked around his room, just to check if anything was out of place, but nothing was out of the ordinary other than a glass of what looked like blood sitting on his desk where there used to be water. He wrinkled his nose at it and the demon picked up the glass, draining it in one go.

“...It’s just wine,” the demon explained after a second, and Joshua relaxed, closing the door behind him. “So, you must be curious, right? Why you, and all that.”

“...I guess,” Joshua admitted. “What’s your name?”

The demon smiled a narrow-eyed smile. “You can call me Jeonghan. If you’re wondering, I’ve been following you because I think you’re cute and you’re the first person who hasn’t run away screaming at the faintest hint of my presence. You’re very interesting, Joshua.”

“...Thanks? Is that a compliment?”

“I mean, it can be, if you take as such,” Jeonghan hummed, shrugging nonchalantly before leaning back on his hands. He was wearing what looked like a tight-fitting black corset over a deep, wine-red blouse, slightly sheer, and Joshua frowned at it. “...What?”

“That looks uncomfortable,” he pointed out, gesturing to Jeonghan’s misection. “Can you even breathe in that?”

“Want me to take it off?” Jeonghan offered with a rakish grin, fingers playing with the laces of the corset, but it faltered slightly when Joshua just kind of kept frowning at him.

“I mean, if you want to, but I dunno. Just looks hard to breathe in.”

At that, Jeonghan seemed surprised, eyes widening, as though he’d intended for something to happen but it hadn’t. Then he shrugged. “...Well, you’re kinda right.” With a snap of his fingers Jeonghan’s entire outfit changed, reds changing into pale, lilac purples, the corset disappearing to be replaced by a soft-looking purple hoodie and ripped-up mom jeans, feet bare. “Better?”

“Looks comfy.” Shrugging, Joshua leaned against the door, tilting his head. “Still wonder why you’re here though.”

“Like I said, I wanted to see you. To talk to you, face-to-face, instead of just following you around. You don’t mind, do you?” Jeonghan’s eyes went wide and kitten-like as he grabbed one of Joshua’s pillows, hugging it tightly, and Joshua shrugged again.

“I mean, you haven’t done anything bad yet, besides making my room messy, so no, I guess I don’t mind. You really shouldn’t let my family see you though,” he pointed out, and Jeonghan let out a snort.

“Please, they can’t see me even if stand in front of them and sing about their sins. Only you can see me because you’re the only person I _want_ to see me. Make sense?”

“I guess. So...what should I do? Are you gonna possess me or anything? If so, leave my succulents alone.”

“Oh, no, no, I’m not going to possess you. Unless you want me to, of course. I’m just going to hang around, y’know, like a friend. I think being friends would be nice, no?” Jeonghan hummed, giving him a familiar, narrow-eyed smile, and Joshua thought for a moment. Was he really willing to be friends with this demon?

“...Only if you promise to play nice and behave,” he warned, and Jeonghan grinned, showing a mouth full of sharp teeth.

“I wouldn’t dream of it any other way.”

* * *

So that was how Joshua ended up with his very own personal demon friend. Jeonghan followed him around and was generally just a normal person, a little teasing, a little sneaky, but generally well-mannered. Of course, no one else could see him unless Jeonghan wanted them to, so Joshua had to be careful about talking to him in public, but...it was kind of nice, Joshua figured. He didn’t have a lot of friends, so having Jeonghan around, his presence warm and constant, was comforting, in a weird way. It gave him a good foul-weather friend and Jeonghan definitely clicked with him. He was funny and impish and always managed to push Joshua’s buttons, whether good or bad.

Of course, he still went to church, and he found it a little amusing how Jeonghan’s form faded the closer they got. Jeonghan couldn’t follow him inside, of course, and if Jeonghan was being particularly naughty, then Joshua would jog over to his church and stand about where Jeonghan’s form was almost impossible to see and wait there with his arms folded until Jeonghan apologized and promised to be good again.

So Joshua thought it was hilarious.

But one day, as his family were saying their last goodbyes to their church friends, Joshua glanced at the confessional booth in the corner and was struck with an odd sense of importance. Joshua always liked to follow his gut, so he told his family he would be back home a little later and hurried over to the booth, wiggling inside with a curious look. He’d almost never been inside a confessional booth, he just never felt the need to, so to be inside one was both a little daunting and a little claustrophobic, if he was being honest.

When the door opened on the other side, Joshua glanced at the figure, but the grate between them obscured their face, even though Joshua knew it was the Father of the church, someone who Joshua knew to be very kind and understanding, so that made him feel a little better.

“What troubles you, child?” the Father asked gently, and Joshua didn’t answer for a couple seconds, wondering what to say and how to stay it. Besides, why even bother with the little grate-barrier thing? Wouldn’t the Father still recognize his voice? What was the point? 

“Child? Are you ok?”

Sighing heavily, Joshua drew his knees up onto the bench, figuring it wouldn’t matter either way. “...There’s a demon who’s been following me around the past couple years.”

“...I see,” the Father said, and Joshua almost snorted, but he held it back. “Is your conscious tainted? Do you have other things you wish to clear from your soul?”

“Not really, honestly. I mean, I may or may not have accidentally stepped on a worm a couple days ago, and I feel really bad about that, but the demon guy won’t leave me alone,” he huffed. He sounded ridiculous, now that he said it out loud, but if there was anyone who would believe him, it would be his equally ridiculously religious church.

“Is it harming you?” the Father prompted, and Joshua shook his head before remembering the Father couldn’t see him.

“No. He’s just annoying to have around, I guess. He’s not mean to me, or anything, and he doesn’t seem to want to kill me. He’s more of a...minor inconvenience, at best. He makes my socks disappear and moves my plants around and follows me to school, but other than that he’s remarkably well-behaved, if not cocky as anything and rather vain.”

Joshua could almost taste the Father’s confusion, and he would have laughed, honestly, if not for his own manners. “...So what should I do about him?”

“I could give you some holy water, to drive the demon away. Remember to not give in to his temptations, child. He may try to coax you into sin.”

“I know, Father.” 

So Joshua left with a bottle of holy water and an odd sense of amusement, wondering what would happen if he put it into a spray bottle and treated Jeonghan like a naughty cat.

“Good, finally, you came out. I was getting bored,” came Jeonghan’s voice the second he stepped off the church grounds, and Joshua snorted, glancing to his left, where the hazy shade of Jeonghan’s body was hanging, growing stronger and more solid the further away they got. “You have holy water on you; I can smell it.”

“I do,” Joshua hummed absently.

“...Are you going to use it?”

“Are you going to behave? Naughty demons get the holy water.”

“...That’s kinky, Shua.”

“Only if you think about it that way. Also, does holy water actually hurt you guys?” he hummed curiously, fiddling with the bottle in his pocket. Jeonghan shrugged.

“I mean, yeah, a little, but it won’t start melting my skin off or anything. So what’d you tell to the dude in the box?”

“Oh, I just said I had a vaguely annoying demon following me around and he gave me some holy water and told me not to give in to your, uh...‘temptations’, whatever that might mean.”

Jeonghan laughed, and the sound made Joshua smile; Jeonghan’s laugh wasn’t sultry or even all that pretty— it was loud and halted and almost a little fake-sounding, but it made Joshua happy because it made Jeonghan seem more real, more tangible, less untouchable. More human, almost.

“The only temptations I would try and tempt you with are temptations to go get me some ice cream,” Jeonghan chuckled, clinging onto his arm, and Joshua rolled his eyes.

“You always want me to get you things.”

“It works most of the time, doesn’t it?”

“I have holy water, Jeonghan-”

“It won’t hurt _too_ bad-”

“Shall we find out-”

“Oh, look at that, I have somewhere to be! Bye Shua!” Just like that, Jeonghan disappeared with a little _pop_ , and Joshua sighed, rolling his eyes again. For supposedly being a thousand year-old demon, Jeonghan sure could be childish sometimes.

Joshua didn’t really mind though. With Jeonghan, he never did.


	2. when he was 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh yeah today is my birthday so hap birth to me
> 
> lmao don't get used to quick updates but here's a Long chapter so hope u enjoy  
> pls give feedback or anything or just keysmash i am very desperate  
> seriously this is long

The night before he turned 18, it was snowing hard outside, and since it was almost midnight, it was pitch-black outside, and Joshua was lying on his bed, curled up close to Jeonghan’s side, basking in his warmth. It was like lying next to a radiator and he savoured the feeling, drifting off as Jeonghan’s hands ran through his hair, over and over, so gentle and tender, so comfortingly familiar.

As Joshua’s eyes drifted shut, lulled by the warmth and constant petting, he barely noticed when Jeonghan pulled something out of his pocket, fiddling with it, and he only jolted awake again when he felt the faintest press of lips to his forehead, warm and soft.

“Happy birthday, Shua,” he whispered, and Joshua hummed, smushing himself closer, throwing an arm over Jeonghan’s chest and pulling him in. Jeonghan laughed softly, petting his hair, and Joshua smiled at the sound. When he glanced up at the clock above his bed, it was precisely midnight. “Can you sit up a bit? I have a gift for you.”

“A gift?” Joshua hummed, opening his eyes a little more despite the warm, sticky sleepiness hanging over him. “Please tell me it’s not something like last year’s ‘gift’.” Last year, for his 17th birthday, Jeonghan had set loose a snake in his room and told him it was a “surprise”. When Joshua finally found the snake two weeks later, curled up behind his dresser, he had given his room a healthy spritzing of holy water and absolutely refused to let Jeonghan anywhere near him until he apologized.

“No, no, nothing like that,” Jeonghan laughed, sounding not even a tiny bit ashamed. “But Faust still misses you, y’know, you should have been nicer to her.” Upon seeing Joshua’s wrinkled nose, Jeonghan’s fingers quickly soothed the little pout away, petting his lips until Joshua let his face relax, focused on the tingly feeling of Jeonghan’s hands on his face.

For a while, he was certain he’d been feeling some...not so platonic feelings for Jeonghan, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of Jeonghan’s demonic abilities to be pretty (Jeonghan had said once that he was a concubus, some kind of sex demon, so Joshua wouldn’t put it past him) or something else, but it always left his skin tingling whenever Jeonghan touched him fondly, and now was no exception.

“Well? I’m waiting,” he hummed, and Jeonghan’s warm hand cupped his cheek for a moment before sliding down his neck, trailing tingles in its wake, trailing down his arm and picking up his right hand. Curious, Joshua watched as a beautiful ring was slipped onto his middle finger, white metal set with one decently-sized ruby, as well as two smaller gems, both a soft, pretty purple. It fit his finger perfectly and Joshua wasn’t surprised, lifting his hand to inspect the ring against the light.

“Is this a proposal?” he mused, giving Jeonghan a small grin, but Jeonghan was just smiling softly at him, hand rising to cup his cheek again, so gentle, almost unexpectedly so.

“Mm...of sorts. You’re my ward, so you have protection now. That ring signifies it. It has my mark on the inside, so if you ever meet another one of my kind, they’ll know I’m with you,” Jeonghan explained, and Joshua pulled off the ring, squinting at the inside, and indeed, he could see a pair of outstretched angel wings on the inside, set on either side of a rose.

“Angel wings are a bit overkill, no?” he chuckled, sliding the ring back onto his hand. It was heavy and warm, warmer than metal should be, but Joshua liked it. It gave him something to focus on as Jeonghan tilted his face up, connecting their gazes.

“My nickname is angel,” Jeonghan hummed with a shrug, “comes with my face. I mean, I’m pretty enough to be an angel, aren’t I? Now no complaining; those are real gems and I put a lot of thought into that gift. Do you like it?” His voice softened with his question, and Joshua was quick to nod, giving the beautiful ring another glance.

“I love it. Thank you, Han, this means a lot. It’s gorgeous,” he offered honestly, and Jeonghan’s fingers squished his cheek gently.

“ _You’re_ gorgeous.”

“You are also gorgeous, Han.”

“I know. But for a human you’re remarkably pretty.”

“For a human?”

“Yes. Take it as a compliment.”

“God, you’re insufferable,” Joshua snorted, and in a moment of impulsive exasperation, he jerked forward and pressed his lips to Jeonghan’s, relishing in Jeonghan’s gasp of slight surprise, but when Jeonghan pressed back he softened, wrapping both arms around Jeonghan’s shoulders, tilting his head as the kiss deepened.

Who knew his first kiss would be with a demon?

“Now, is this because of the ring, or because you actually like me? Just checking,” Jeonghan murmured against his lips, and Joshua bit down gently on Jeonghan’s lower lip, huffing through his nose. “Alright, alright! Jeez, feisty.”

“You like it though,” Joshua muttered, and Jeonghan sighed as though the knowledge pained him.

“I do.” And then they were kissing again, filling the hollow parts of Joshua’s bones with warmth, blanketing him in a cloak of safety and heat, surrounded by Jeonghan’s presence. Joshua never wanted to stop, intoxicated by Jeonghan’s heavy presence pressing on his entire body, as though Jeonghan was trying to merge with him, as close as he could physically get.

When Joshua pushed his tongue against Jeonghan’s lips, needy, not quite sure where his sudden boldness was coming from, Jeonghan pulled back with another quiet laugh, reaching up to boop his nose, which involuntarily made Joshua smile.

“It’s too late to get all messy, if you know what I mean,” Jeonghan hummed, tracing his finger down to Joshua’s kiss-swollen lips, and Joshua, for a brief moment, had the most powerful urge to bite down on Jeonghan’s fingers before Jeonghan must have sensed his intentions and jerked his hand away, one eyebrow raised. “...Cat.”

“Cat?”

“Bitey.”

“That’s fair.”

Snorting, Jeonghan pulled him into another tight hug, rubbing his cheek against Joshua’s hair. “I love you, Shua.”

“...I love you too, Han.” It wasn’t the first time they’d said it to each other, but it felt more meaningful now, and it was still simple, still easy, still just...the two of them.

In the morning, when his parents presented him with a pretty little chocolate cake and the gift of a new jacket he’d been eyeing, his mother asked him about the ring, and Joshua smiled down at it without thinking, lips curling up slightly.

“I just found it when I was cleaning up my room and I thought it was pretty,” he offered, shrugging, and his mother gave him a slightly confused look before nodding, kissing his forehead and giving him a tight hug, which he reciprocated. His father gave him a tight side-hug and a loving hair ruffle, affectionately telling him to move out already, which Joshua was actually planning to do soon with one of his few friends.

With the taste of chocolate lingering in his mouth, Joshua caught the next bus to work, in a nice little local restaurant that served more Western dishes, and the smells always made Joshua happy. His co-workers were nice and a few of them had gone out of their way to befriend him, and since Joshua was shy and very much an introvert, he was just glad they’d made the first move.

“Morning, Shua! Happy birthday!” one of said co-workers, Wheein, said, bouncing over with a bright grin on her face. “Hansol and Mingyu are making you a surprise in the kitchen so you’re working as a busser today. No excuses!”

“Thanks, that’s really sweet,” Joshua hummed, giving her a quick hug, patting the top of her head. “If I’m not allowed in the kitchen, will you tell them hello for me?”

“Sure, and the stock also- oh, nice ring, that’s really pretty,” Wheein commented, eyes big as she grabbed his hand and inspected the ring. “Are these real?”

“Someone just gave it to me.” Shrugging, Joshua took his hand back after a moment, a bit of a flush creeping up his face. He wasn’t poor but he wasn’t loaded either, and it always made him flustered to receive nice things, especially when someone pointed them out. Jeonghan’s ring was one of the few exceptions to that rule.

“Ooh, look who’s getting hitched,” Wheein giggled, bumping her hip to his. “Alright, get to work, lover boy, we’re pretty full today.”

True to Wheein’s words,the restaurant was comfortably busy, but Joshua was in a particularly good mood that day; he kept seeing flashes of a pretty face in the corners of his vision and the feeling of phantom hands on his hips was always a welcome weight. When one customer in particular started flirting pretty heavily with him, he felt a little tug on the back of his collar, the heavy weight of the ring flushing warm with heat, and, fighting back laughter at Jeonghan’s possessive nature, he politely excused himself to keep working.

“Calm down, casanova,” he whispered to no one in particular, and he scrunched up his nose when he felt a gentle pinch on his side, and he swatted at the air next to him discreetly, and the air that his hand passed through felt thicker, just a tiny bit more solid.

“...What are you doing?” He froze when he heard the curious voice of one of his other co-workers, Johnny, who was a little shy just like him, and thus they hadn’t become as close.

“Just shaking out my sleeve,” he lied quickly, and Johnny shrugged, patting him on the shoulder with a mumbled “happy birthday dude”, which Joshua accepted with an equally-mumbled thanks, though he was slightly confused as to how Johnny knew it was his birthday. Did Wheein tell everyone? He wouldn’t put it past her…

A gentle tap to his lower back reminded him to keep moving, but when he glanced over his shoulder there was no one there, and he rolled his eyes, a hint of a smile curling his lips. Part of him wanted to show Jeonghan off to the world, to show everyone that this beautiful boy was his, but the rest of him wanted to keep Jeonghan a secret, keep him hidden, make an inside joke out of it all, and since Jeonghan only appeared to those he wanted to see him, they were going with the latter, but Joshua didn’t mind.

It just made it funny when people asked who was looking at while he worked.

* * *

As he was closing his shift, nodding to some of the regulars, he quickly checked his phone for any texts and smiled as Minhyuk, another one of his co-workers, patted his shoulder with a cheerful smile and bid him happy birthday. It felt like the entire staff had said it to him at least once, and as introverted as he was, it was kind of nice.

But before he could head out the door, he was suddenly yanked into the kitchen by the back of his collar, and, trying not to choke, he struggled around a bit before his arms were clamped tight to his sides, and his first instinct was to panic, to call out for Jeonghan, to thrash around and struggle, but before he could do any of those, the comical sound of a party blower filled his ears, way, way too close for comfort, and he realized that he wasn’t being restrained by criminals wanting to rob the restaurant— Mingyu was just giving him a hug. A tight, somewhat uncomfortable hug, due to the fact that Joshua’s arms were digging into his sides.

“Happy birthday!” whooped a familiar voice, and he turned to give Hansol a dry smile.

“Thanks, but could you uh...help me a bit? Octopus here has a bit of a cling problem,” he muttered, and quickly Mingyu let go, grinning brightly as though it were his own birthday. Mingyu and Hansol were a few of his friends; they’d gone through middle school and highschool together, and even though Mingyu was very much a social butterfly, and Hansol was pretty popular with his handsome features and chill personality, they somehow managed to click with him pretty well, which Joshua was grateful for.

“Happy birthday!” Mingyu squealed, a little childish and puppy-like as always, giving Joshua a slightly gentler hug before tugging him over to the kitchen counter, nearly bouncing up and down.

“Ok, before you start vibrating, please tell me you aren’t gonna like, pull out a pinata or something,” Joshua snorted, and Mingyu’s face fell.

“Would you have wanted that? I knew I should have put that on the list but Hansol wouldn’t let me,” Mingyu whined, but at Joshua’s deadpan look he huffed, cheeks turning pink. “Anyway, close your eyes. We made you something!”

“Knowing you, that’s a threat,” Joshua chuckled good-naturedly, but he closed his eyes anyway, and the faintest feeling of hands covering his eyes made his eyelashes flutter, radiating heat, though he knew that if he opened his eyes he would see nothing covering them.

“Meanie,” Mingyu muttered, but the sound of him and Hansol puttering around the kitchen quickly followed, interspersed with little hissed mutters and quiet expletives. “Alright, you can open your eyes now!”

Joshua did, and a bright smile made its way over his face at the sight of a perfectly-decorated little cupcake, so photogenic that it was clearly Mingyu’s work. There was a little cat on it with eyes that kind of resembled his own, and Joshua snorted, picking up the cupcake.

“I’d kinda feel bad for eating it; it’s so cute,” he hummed, and Mingyu and Hansol exchanged a not-so-subtle high-five under the counter. “Thanks, you two, this is really sweet,” he added more earnestly, pulling them both into a quick hug, patting Hansol’s hair and playfully ruffling up Mingyu’s.

“Wow, a hug from Joshua Hong? I’ll savour the moment forever,” Hansol sighed dramatically, and Joshua kicked warningly at his knee, which sobered him up quickly. “Sick ring, by the way.”

“Thanks. Someone gave it to me.”

“Someone just _gave_ you a ring like that?” Mingyu asked skeptically, and Joshua smiled his cleverest smile, tilting his head a little to the side.

“It’s my birthday,” he pointed out, and though Mingyu still looked a little suspicious, he didn’t question it further, instead whipping out his phone to take a quick picture of the cupcake. Joshua wrinkled his nose; Mingyu was always taking pictures of food, even if it wasn’t his.

But he was feeling benevolent so he allowed it, and once Mingyu had put his phone away, he picked up the cupcake, peeled away the wrapper, and pulled the cake part in half, making a little cupcake sandwich. He always preferred eating cupcakes as a sandwich; it made for better frosting spread between each bite and he would fight people on that standpoint. Well, he wouldn’t fight them, but he would silently disagree.

In other words, he was ignoring Hansol’s slightly judgemental look.

When he finally clocked out after getting trapped in one last hug from Mingyu and one last very chill bro hug from Hansol, Joshua hummed to himself as he waited for the bus, one earbud in, the other hanging off the collar of his shirt. It was bitterly cold, snow piled up everywhere, but he felt a little better when he felt hands creep onto his shoulders, warm and solid, though when he looked down, there was nothing there. Jeonghan always just liked to be present with him, to follow him around and touch him and remind Joshua that he was there. Joshua enjoyed it.

“I’ll be home soon, don’t worry,” he assured quietly, scrolling through his favorite playlist, and the phantom hands on his shoulders squeezed gently before relaxing, but they didn’t go away, and as they waited Joshua felt phantom fingers tap out little aimless patterns on his shoulders and it made him smile down at his phone, tempted to reach up and touch, but he knew his own fingers would meet nothing but the fabric of his thick, puffy jacket.

Throughout the bus ride, Joshua continually felt a hand on his thigh despite no one sitting next to him, and when he placed his hand down, palm-up, he felt a hand settle in his, almost solid but not quite. If he squinted he could almost, almost see the faintest outline of something there, but he couldn’t be sure.

Still, he “held” Jeonghan’s hand until the bus came to his stop, and he hopped off with the warm feeling of something holding his wrist, following him along until he was out of sight of anyone else, and as Joshua walked down the relatively empty street to his house, he turned and finally saw Jeonghan walking next to him, his expression content, and Joshua smiled at him, reaching out to take his hand.

“Hi there.”

“Hi,” Jeonghan hummed, giving his hand a squeeze. “Ugh, I hate having to hide while you’re at work. It’s so boring but I get the feeling at least Hansol would notice something off and point it out.”

“Hansol’s weird like that; he just...knows things. Anyway, don’t you have like...demon things to do?” Joshua snorted, swinging their hands, and Jeonghan just shrugged dismissively, linking their arms together and leaning his head on Joshua’s shoulder.

Pausing only to pet a stray cat, Joshua got home quickly, and even though Jeonghan was clearly visible to him, his parents only gave him their normal smiles as he hurried up to his room, eager to take a shower and get into something comfortable. Winter break was fun without all the homework, but he still had to go to work and it always left him more tired than he expected.

“Can I join you?” Jeonghan purred as he tossed his bag onto his bed and started unbuttoning his shirt, and Joshua just threw him a dry look, rolling his eyes. Jeonghan had always been flirty, sensual and very attractive, but Joshua wasn’t the type to shed his clothes on the first date, and besides, they hadn’t even gone out on a proper date yet. He wondered what would be a good place to go to for a date when it was so cold outside…

When he got out of the shower, he smiled at the sight of Jeonghan lounging there, a new, soft set of clothes set out on the chair by Joshua’s desk, which Joshua quickly slipped into, ruffling his hair dry with his towel.

“You look soft,” Jeonghan commented, holding his arms out, and Joshua hummed vague acknowledgement before slotting himself into Jeonghan’s arms, pressing a shy, fond kiss to his jaw. Jeonghan returned the kiss to his cheek and Joshua smiled brighter, full of warm, fuzzy feelings despite the cold. When Jeonghan picked up his right hand and pressed a reverent kiss to the ring, those feelings only increased, and Joshua cuddled closer, drawn by the inhuman heat of Jeonghan’s body.

“Is there anything you wanna do today? It’s your birthday,” Jeonghan offered, but Joshua shook his head, smushing his face against Jeonghan’s sturdy chest.

“Nah. Just wanna cuddle. You’re warm.” Jeonghan laughed at that, but a heavy arm settled comfortably over his waist, and the kiss placed gently in his hair made Joshua feel sleepy, eyelids drooping as he yawned against Jeonghan’s favorite purple hoodie.

“Happy birthday, Shua. Love you lots.”

“Love you too. Now, nap time.”

“Whatever you say, your highness~”

* * *

“I am curious- when is _your_ birthday?”

“That’s...a good question.”

“Do you seriously not know?”

“Well, birthdays aren’t exactly that big of a deal down in the demon world…”

“...That’s sad. I hope you remember so I can celebrate and get you something nice,” Joshua sighed, tapping his pencil against his paper. He had a science quiz coming up and he hated science, so he just wanted to get the studying and the work out of the way so he could do something more enjoyable, like math. Math was fun, no matter what Mingyu said.

“You can get me something nice any day though,” Jeonghan pointed out, sticking his foot out to poke Joshua’s thigh. “ _You_ are a nice thing.”

“Aww, you really think so? I’m flattered,” Joshua said absently, sighing as he erased yet another wrong equation. God, who ever looked at science and thought it would be fun to put it into education systems?

“...Y’know, if you need help, ask your nerdy friend. Seung-something? The one you say has the fluffy hair and the nice thighs.”

“Oh, yeah, Seungcheol. Good point.” Seungcheol was another one of Joshua’s friends, a little older but only by four months, and he was the one person Joshua went to for homework help simply because Hansol and Mingyu didn’t take the same classes and because Seungcheol, despite being a bit of a dork and a little awkward with words, was very smart when it came down to it.

“What about you? Don’t you have like...infinite knowledge or something?” Spinning around in his chair, Joshua watched Jeonghan’s face spin by, grinning at the way he scrunched up his nose.

“I’m not omnipotent, Shua, but I doubt you even know what that means.”

“I assure you I do.”

“Then you should know that I don’t know everything. I’m not a deity; I’m just a pretty regular concubus,” Jeonghan hummed, and that sparked another question in Joshua’s chest, sticking his foot out to stop his spinning so he ended up facing Jeonghan on the bed.

“Do you guys have like...a hierarchy or something? How does it work down there?” he asked curiously, and a thoughtful expression took over Jeonghan’s face.

“Mm...it’s more...meritocratic than human societies; everything’s based on how powerful you are. The more power you have, the higher you are. My friend Jun, he’s an incubus and he’s considered a prince because he and his family are all very old, powerful demons. I guess you could call me part of the high court, since I’m nothing to sneeze at myself, but yeah, it’s just based on that. Occasionally, people will challenge the king for the throne, and they duke it out until someone wins.”

“You guys have a king? Like...satan, or lucifer or something like that? Beezlebub?”

Jeonghan laughed at that, long and loud and a tiny bit mocking, and Joshua huffed, lightly kicking Jeonghan’s thigh. “Hey, don’t mock me, I go to church!”

“Right, ‘cause you’re such a _good Christian boy,_ ” Jeonghan chuckled, the words dripping with amusement. Joshua shivered, but couldn't quite place why; it was fairly warm in his room. “No, we have a man named Kim Heechul, who is the embodiment of a benevolent chaos entity as all lifeforms know it. He’s a pretty swell dude all things considered.”

“The name sounds familiar…”

“Yeah, probably because he was actually a king when he was alive, like, a billion years ago, and he had this big harem or something but he also loved his wife very much and apparently that made him super powerful so now him and his wifey rule hell with a benevolent if not somewhat eccentric reign,” Jeonghan sighed whimsically, sweeping a hand through the air. Joshua blinked at him, but Jeonghan just kept staring into the middle distance with that benign smile until Joshua snorted quietly and looked back down at his homework, shaking his head.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what you think it means.”

“...” Instead of saying anything else, Jeonghan simply stood up and grabbed his hand, kissing the ring lightly, before turning Joshua’s hand and leaving little smooches down his palm, the feeling tingly and odd but not unpleasant.

“...What are you doing?” Joshua prompted, still mostly focused on his homework, tapping his pencil against the paper.

“Trying to get your attention on me.”

“I have homework.”

“But homework is boring.”

“But grades are important.”

“...Fine. Is it ok if I poof away for a bit? Speaking of work, there’s something I need to finish,” Jeonghan hummed, sitting up suddenly, and Joshua glanced at him, shrugging.

“You don’t have to ask me for permission-”

“But I don’t want you to be lonely!” Jeonghan explained, wrapping his arms around Joshua from behind. “I’ll be back before you know it, promise. Don’t miss me too much~” He left one last kiss on the high point of Joshua’s cheek before he was gone without a trace, and Joshua chuckled to himself in his now empty room, glancing at the ring on his right hand and tilting it back and forth, watching the way the gems caught the light from the lamp on his desk.

“You really are something, aren’t you?” he sighed fondly, shaking his head and returning to his homework. He still hated science.

* * *

Moving into a small apartment with Seungcheol went more smoothly than Joshua really thought it would. Seungcheol was kind and funny and a great friend, and they’d been discussing moving in together for college for a while, since they were both thinking of going to the same place to study music composition.

Months of planning led to Joshua standing in the empty living room of their new apartment, grinning brightly as Seungcheol hauled his suitcase inside. Warm hands were rubbing his shoulders and Joshua relaxed into the sensation, closing his eyes for a couple seconds.

“...What are you doing?” He opened his eyes again to see Seungcheol’s bemused expression, and he shrugged.

“Just thinking.”

“...Aight then.” Over the years, his friends had gotten used to Joshua’s interactions with Jeonghan; they still didn’t know Jeonghan existed, but when they saw Joshua muttering to seemingly no one, when they saw him batting at the air around with him a frown, when they saw him looking at things no one else could see, they learned to just take it as Joshua being weird. Which was fine with Joshua, honestly.

“Here, help me grab the rest of our stuff. We can think about furniture tomorrow, but we won’t need much, right?” Seungcheol prompted, and Joshua turned to help, already imagining how he would decorate his room with little fairy lights and photos of his family…

“Aish, I should have called Jihoon in to help us,” Seungcheol grumbled, hefting a large backpack onto his back, looking pouty. Jihoon was one of Seungcheol’s friends, a friend whom Joshua had never met but heard a lot about. “Shua, do you think your invisible friend could help us move all this stuff?”

Instinctively, Joshua glanced to the side at where Jeonghan’s presence was hovering, radiating heat that only Joshua could feel, and the feeling of a hand ghosted over his back, settling warm between his shoulder blades.

“...I mean, maybe,” he hummed absently, and Seungcheol chuckled, clearly taking it as a joke. Joshua smiled to himself, helping Seungcheol drag his things inside; it was always a fun inside joke, especially when Hansol and Mingyu poked fun at him for always being distracted with his “invisible friend”.

Once they were all settled, the two of them laid down on the floor in the biggest room, where they would probably put a couch or something. Seungcheol had said he had an old TV he was going to bring in so they could watch movies and stuff, and Joshua had some extra chairs his parents didn’t need, so they were pretty settled on that front. Joshua was content to just lie there on the carpet, Jeonghan’s presence settled warmly at his side, making his eyes droop sleepily. His ring was warm with heat on his finger, and he was happy.

“...I can’t believe we’re actually going to college. It feels kinda surreal,” Seungcheol said after a while, his voice soft, and Joshua nodded with a quiet hum.

“...I mean, we’re here now. Might as well make the best of it.”

* * *

“Making the best of it” apparently meant inviting every single one of Seungcheol’s friends over for a house-warming party two weeks later. Joshua wasn’t against it, but it had been a while since he’d actually been around a large group of people. He wasn’t antisocial, just a little shy, and talking to people was hard for him, especially if they were complete strangers.

But Seungcheol told him over and over that all of them were very nice, and they would try their best to behave, so maybe he could handle it. Only maybe, because Jeonghan was off doing something else that day, though very reluctantly, according to him.

“I’m so sorry I have to leave you alone, but I’ve gotta do some reports. Even demons need to do work,” Jeonghan had whispered in the morning, kissing his cheeks gently. “Promise I’ll be back soon. Don’t miss me too much.”

“...Ok. Be quick,” Joshua had sighed, and Jeonghan had nodded, gifting him one last long kiss before poofing out of sight, leaving Joshua feeling oddly cold.

But that had been in the morning, and now, half past 1 in the afternoon, Joshua had never seen so many people gathered in his house. He swore there were at least a dozen of them, including himself and Seungcheol, and he could hardly get a word in, not that he knew what to say to anyone.

But luckily Seungcheol had already introduced them to him. The three loud musketeers over by the kitchen were Soonyoung, Seokmin, and Seungkwan, Seungkwan’s chill boyfriend was apparently Hansol, who Joshua shared a quick high-five with, Seungkwan’s not-so-chill best friend was Mingyu, who Joshua also shared a high-five with (small world), the freshman-looking kid was Chan, the tall skinny bookworm with glasses was Wonwoo, the Chinese duo were Minghao and Jun, and the short boy with the excellent resting bitch face was Jihoon, Seungcheol’s best bud.

Joshua liked them all. They were all generally funny and polite and a little loud but lovable, and Hansol was very chill, allowing him a person to relax with. He spoke English too, which was a win, and Joshua felt comfortable chatting with him and Chan, who was clever and funny.

He was, however, a little perturbed by the way Jun just kept...staring at him, head slightly tilted, giving him a kind of searching expression that Joshua wasn’t too comfortable with. What was he thinking about?

He tensed a little when Jun finally walked up to him, wearing a charming, intimidatingly handsome smile, and his name sparked a flame of familiarity somewhere in the back of Joshua’s mind, but he couldn’t quite place why. Where had he heard that name before? It was on the tip of his tongue…

“I like your ring,” Jun said, in a very deliberate way that suggested the words had meaning, “it’s very beautiful.”

Then it clicked in Joshua’s head: could Jun be the demon prince Jeonghan had told him about? Joshua’s eyes widened, and he just kind of stared at Jun for a second, wondering what to do. Did he bow? How should he address Jun? How did he know about the ring?

“...A friend gave it to me,” he finally was able to say, pulling the ring off of his finger and holding it out. “His mark is on the inside.” Hopefully, this Jun was the one Jeonghan had talked about, and hopefully, he was friendly.

“You’re Jeonghan’s ward?” Jun sounded surprised, taking the ring with long, slender fingers, holding it up to inspect the inside. “Ah, I see. So you’re the one he spends hours gushing about. The praise is well-deserved; you definitely are something to look at.”

Joshua flushed; Jeonghan talked about him to other demons? And was this a confirmation or not? Jun knew Jeonghan’s name…

“Yes, I know Jeonghan, if you’re asking. He and I are close friends. I’m like him.” Jun gave him a much brighter, more friendly smile, picking his hand up to slide the ring back on. “He certainly chose a very pretty human for his ward.”

Joshua, if possible, flushed deeper, unsure of how to respond. “Uh- um...thanks…”

“Jun. You can just call me Jun,” Jun supplied, and Joshua nodded. That was easy. “Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” Jun added with a playful wink, and Joshua let out a nervous laugh. He wasn’t good with people. Thankfully Jun just giggled, patting his shoulder before sauntering off to Minghao, kissing his hair lightly.

“What was that about? Was Jun the one who gave you that ring?” Seungcheol prompted, making his way over, and Joshua shook his head, observing the older’s somewhat rumpled state, probably from getting his hair ruffled by Mingyu.

“No, he was just checking it out. You have...weird friends, by the way.”

“I know!” Seungcheol said cheerfully, looking as happy as anything as he threw an arm over Joshua’s shoulders, and Joshua laughed. He could get used to this.

* * *

College was difficult. Joshua didn’t think music composition could be so hard, but there was always so much to do, so much to review, and his head felt clogged up with extra noise, swamped by sounds that didn’t go together, notes that didn’t match. It was a lot, and honestly, he just wanted to sink into his bed and go to sleep and not wake up for a solid 15 hours.

But, of course, since he was a good student first and foremost, he finished as much of his work as he could physically handle before groaning and tossing himself onto his bed, into Jeonghan’s lap. Jeonghan was, unsurprisingly, an unhelpful study partner. Mostly, he just wanted to study Joshua’s hands and ways to distract him from his homework, which he was becoming better and better at. Joshua kind of hated him for it, but was also kind of glad. If it weren’t for Jeonghan, he probably would have gone crazy, and he felt kind of bad for Seungcheol.

“Ugh, why is this so hard? I just wanna _sleep_ ,” he groaned into Jeonghan’s thigh, and he shivered when a warm hand carded through his hair oh-so gently.

“Well, you’ve been doing very good for the past...oh, three hours or so, so you definitely deserve a nice break to lay down a cuddle with yours truly,” Jeonghan hummed, sounding very smug for some reason, and Joshua sighed, shuffling a bit to get comfortable. He _had_ been working a pretty long time without stopping…

“...Ok, maybe just for an hour or so. I wanna finish the rest of it by the time I have to go to work.” He had gotten a new job at a catering company, and it was nice, since it let him pick and choose his hours, and it paid well too, even if it was kind of draining sometimes.

“So responsible. My baby is such a grown up,” Jeonghan cooed, lying down beside him, and Joshua scrunched up his nose, too tired to snip back with something clever.

“Shut up. Can’t you just...possess me or something and do my homework for me?” he sighed, but Jeonghan’s expression turned thoughtful, in the way it only did when Jeonghan was genuinely considering something. Joshua tensed.

“I mean...I can if you want. Not finish your work for you, but I can possess you, if you want. It’ll let you rest as I take over for a bit,” Jeonghan suggested carefully, and Joshua blinked.

“...You can _do_ that? I was kinda joking…”

“Well, do you _want_ me to? I can’t possess you without your explicit consent. Demons get a bad rep for it but I really can’t even touch you unless you want me to. The only reason I can hang out with you and be around you is because you aren’t consciously driving me away. If you hated me, I would be gone, but you don’t hate me, in fact you consider me a friend, so I can be close to you. I’m here because you trust me,” Jeonghan explained, bringing their hands together, and Joshua bobbed his head with a noise of acknowledgement.

“Ah. Interesting. So you’re like a vampire, kind of?”

“Kind of.”

“So what will it feel like?” Curious, he leaned closer, and a small, toothy smile broke out on Jeonghan’s face.

“It’ll feel good for you. If I possess you, I ultimately control your body, so you won’t be able to do much more than talk in your head, but I won’t do anything naughty, promise. Unless you want me to. In which case I would feel morally obliged. But anyway, you might feel a bit floaty or disconnected, but that’s normal. Mostly it’ll just be for you to relax and let go a little bit. Stress relief, essentially. As for me, I’d just feel all the normal stuff you’re feeling right now. Nothing special.”

“Would you be able to read my thoughts?”

“Mm...to an extent. I can’t gain access to your memories or repressed thoughts, but anything that crosses your mind normally, like asking me a question or just a passing thought about something, I’ll notice it. It might be hard for me to decipher ‘cause it’s kinda distant and echo-y, but I’ll hear it, at the very least,” Jeonghan hummed, looking at their hands. “So, what do you think?”

“Will there be any...side effects?” Joshua prompted warily, and the smirk on Jeonghan’s face didn’t exactly make him feel better.

“Nothing too bad, I promise. You might feel a bit tired after I leave, maybe kind of hungry, maybe a little disoriented, but you’ll be back to normal within a couple hours. Also, while I’m in your body, you might feel just a weensy bit...aroused, or sensitive at least. Comes with being my kind of demon.” There was a purr in his voice, and Joshua rolled his eyes.

“Right. Incubus,” he muttered, and Jeonghan grinned.

“Concubus,” Jeonghan corrected, booping his nose. “I like giving and receiving.” Joshua wrinkled his nose, but Jeonghan just giggled, looking quite gleeful. “So, what’d you say? If you don’t want to, then that’s your call, of course, but it’d be fun, and it would give you the opportunity to sit back instead of having to do everything by yourself.”

Joshua looked at Jeonghan, at his pretty features, too perfect to be totally human, and considered. This was a demon in front of him, and he was a good church boy. He still went to every Sunday meeting and never skipped an opportunity to help out with the younger kids. He hummed bible hymns in the morning and read verses when he couldn’t sleep. He had a cross earring he wore regularly.

And now there was a demon, a concubus, lying casually in his bed, holding his hands, asking politely if he wanted to be possessed to have a chance to take a break for a bit.

“If you want me to leave, your consciousness will shove me out, or at least reduce my control. If you really don’t like it, then I’ll leave, promise. I’m not gonna take advantage of your trust in me. Trust is a powerful thing, and I don’t intend to ruin it,” Jeonghan said softly, giving his hands a gentle squeeze, and Joshua drew in a shuddering, slightly shaky breath, looking down at their laced fingers.

“...Alright,” he said after a moment, “alright, sounds ok. I’m willing to try. Just so long as you make good on your promise. I’m holding you to that, alright?”

“Promise.” Jeonghan nodded solemnly, giving his hands another squeeze. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“Don’t make me regret it. So how does this work?”

“I just need you to relax as much as possible. You might feel pressure in your head or on your body, but it won’t be painful. Might feel kinda tingly and weird but it passes quick. I just need you to relax so I can slip into your soul. The more nervous you are, the more resistance your body puts up, and the harder it is for me to make things easy. If you’re scared or you want me to stop, just tell me, ok? If I successfully possess you, let’s set a timer for, oh, let’s say half an hour. I’ll get out after half an hour and then we can discuss,” Jeonghan said professionally, and Joshua was marginally soothed by his brisk, knowing tone. 

“Have you done this before? The whole possessing thing?” he asked curiously, and Jeonghan just nodded, offering no further explanation.

“I have. Just relax, alright? Close your eyes if you want to. It won’t hurt. Just take a deep breath and...relax.” Closing his eyes, feeling a little awkward, Joshua sat there, still holding Jeonghan’s hands.

“That’s right, just breathe deep.”

The hands were holding tighter now, and Jeonghan felt...closer.

“You’re doing so good. Just like that, you’re doing beautifully.”

The praise felt nice, made Joshua’s head feel...foggy. Or was it just Jeonghan’s soul pressing against his own? He didn’t know, but he felt heavier too, weighed down, under pressure. It didn’t hurt though, and it didn’t feel bad. Just as though he were sleeping under a weighted blanket.

“Perfect, Shua. Just let me in, nice and easy. Just let go, relax, let everything drift away.”

Jeonghan’s voice sounded so close, as though speaking directly into his ear, and Joshua shivered at the closeness, hoping it wouldn’t mess anything up. The heaviness was going away, replaced by an insistent pressure inside his chest and around his head, not painful, just...odd. New. He could almost feel himself slipping away, but he wasn’t panicked. He just felt...hazy, staticky, no longer in control but not in a bad way. His entire body felt full, in a way he couldn’t quite describe.

“Good boy, good, good boy, doing so good. You’re doing so good for me. Almost done, promise. Just relax, drift off, let me in...just...like...that.”

Joshua slowly opened his eyes, but he also didn’t. He didn’t tell himself to. He just opened his eyes and looked around and looked down at his empty hands, and it didn’t feel quite right. He felt as though he was watching from someone else’s point of view, some kind of high-tech VR that he wasn’t controlling.

“It’s done,” he said, but he didn’t say it. It was his voice, but not him. Jeonghan...had Jeonghan done it? “Yes, I did.” Oh. Cool. It didn’t hurt, just like Jeonghan promised. In fact it was kind of comfortable, just to relax and drift off and let someone else take control…

“Don’t drift off too far, Shua, stay aware,” Jeonghan-With-Joshua’s-Voice warned, slightly sharper, and as though he were fighting off drowsiness, Joshua hummed distantly, testing out his control. He couldn’t move any of his limbs, but Jeonghan did it for him, and it was all normal, if not for the odd delay between his intention and the output. His head was fuzzy and floaty and he felt safe, relaxed, a bit sleepy. Dormant.

Then Jeonghan shifted and Joshua sucked in a metaphorical breath. The barest brush of his clothes over his skin set off all kinds of sensitive-tingly-sparky feelings down his nerves, and he wondered a distant question to Jeonghan as to how it felt for him.

“It feels normal for me. You have a nice body, strong,” Jeonghan said with his voice, and Joshua chuckled at the oddness of hearing his own voice talk to himself. “Really! And this is the easiest I’ve ever slipped with someone. You drop so well, Shua, like you were born to do this. That’s a compliment, I promise.”

If Joshua could wrinkle his nose and pout, he would have, but he couldn’t, so he huffed and sent some discontented thoughts Jeonghan’s way, at which Jeonghan only laughed, reaching to pick up his phone and setting a timer for 30 minutes. Good, he was keeping his promise. That was good.

“I’ll be good, promise. What do you want to do for this half an hour?” Jeonghan hummed, setting his phone down, and what was left of Joshua’s consciousness did the mental equivalent of a shrug. Sensitivity ran along every nerve in his body and even if Jeonghan couldn’t feel it, Joshua kept shifting in his consciousness, not sure whether he wanted to seek out the tingly feeling or get away from it.

“Shh, Shua, relax. You’ll get used to it soon. You’ll just be a little sensitive until then, ok? How about we walk to the kitchen and back? Just to test. I wanna make sure this body works as it should,” Jeonghan soothed, and Joshua settled, sluggish. He liked the sound of that, “we”. The two of them together, just like they had always been.

Sending a vague thought of affirmation and permission, Joshua watched as Jeonghan carefully stood up off the bed, steadying himself against the edge before presumably gaining confidence.

“Everything feels right, if a little tired. You take good care of yourself,” Jeonghan said appreciatively, and through his own eyes Joshua could see Jeonghan looking down at himself, running his hands down his chest and sparking more of the tingly, slightly pleasurable feeling. It was new, interesting, but not bad. Definitely not bad.

 _“No unnecessary touching,”_ he grumbled in his head, and Jeonghan laughed. Joshua heard his own laugh and again, it confused him for a few seconds.

“Alright, alright, whatever you say. Let’s get some water.” Settling back again, Joshua let Jeonghan walk them to the kitchen, a bit tentative, a bit wobbly, but quickly becoming more steady. “Your body is comfortable. Not to sound weird or creepy but it’s been a long time since I’ve met someone who fits me so well.”

Joshua didn’t really know how to respond to that, so he just kind of acknowledged the statement with a subtle shift of his consciousness. Was he a bit weirded out? Yeah, maybe. Was he also kind of flattered? Yeah.

“Ok, been a while since I've done this…” Jeonghan muttered, and Joshua snickered quietly as Jeonghan missed opening the cabinet door a couple times, hand a bit floppy. “Shut up! Fine motor function is hard when you’re in someone else’s body!”

“Joshua? Who are you talking to?” Seungcheol called from the hallway, walking into the kitchen, looking a bit sleepy. Oh boy. An unforeseen obstacle.

“No one, just...talking to myself,” Jeonghan said quickly, and Seungcheol seemed to take that as an acceptable answer; he only shrugged and walked over to the cabinet to fetch himself a glass, handing Jeonghan one with a hum of offering. “Thanks.”

“Mm.” Seungcheol grunted quietly, yawning again before getting himself some water and tottering off again, and they stood there for a second longer.

“...He’s kinda cute,” Jeonghan said quietly, and Joshua snorted.

_“Yeah, yeah, thirst over him later. Get water.”_

“Right on it, captain.”

Walking back to his room was a little easier, and they spent the rest of the half an hour exploring how to do things with their two minds, sometimes following Joshua’s intents when he wanted to do something but didn’t have the control necessary, but mostly Joshua just let Jeonghan lead, allowing himself to slip into the soft, gentle haziness of letting go, growing more and more sleepy as time passed. It was comfortable, to rest, to allow someone else to take control, even if Jeonghan kept reminding him to stay awake and alert.

When the timer on his phone finally went off, they both jumped, and Jeonghan hugged himself (Joshua’s body) a bit, rubbing his arms. “I’m going to leave now, ok? It might feel a bit strange, but try not to panic.”

 _“O...k?”_ That was a bit weird, but it quickly became apparent as to why when Jeonghan’s presence slipped from his body, leaving him feeling cold and oddly boneless, nearly flopping off the bed as all the support left his limbs and his muscles went limp. He missed the warmth the most, the feeling of being complete, and his head felt too empty without a second voice in it. It scared him a little, if he was honest.

“Woah, woah, come back to me, sweetheart,” Jeonghan laughed, back in his own body, sitting neatly on Joshua’s bed and pulling him into a hug. “Don’t worry, it takes a little getting used to, I know. But you’ll be fine in an hour or so, maybe less. You don’t have work until eight, right? That should be plenty of time to take a nap, finish your work, and go get ready.”

Joshua could only make a short, aborted noise, still a bit stunned. He could hardly summon the energy to lift any of his limbs, and his eyes were heavy, the call of sleep luring him like a siren song. Why was he so drained?

“Hey, hey, look at me. There’s something we need to talk about before you go to sleep,” Jeonghan murmured, sounding more serious, and Joshua managed a soft grunt of acknowledgement, struggling to move himself so he could get more comfortable. His body was floppy and he felt like a piece of flaccid jello.

“Listen, Shua. Your body works perfectly, and you slip and drop so well when I possess you, but the one thing you need to do for me is to stay alert and awake and aware. Your soul fits so well with mine that there’s a danger of us merging completely. Of me taking over your body permanently,” Jeonghan said quietly, taking his hands, and Joshua’s breath hitched a little, unease making him slightly more alert.

“...Oh,” he mumbled. “How do I keep that from happening?”

“Just stay awake. You said you felt sleepy, right? I could feel your soul thinning the closer you got to sleep. If you fall asleep...I don’t know if I’ll be able to wake you up. I don’t know if you’ll be able to take over your body again if I leave. If- if our souls merge and I leave your body, then...you’ll just be a shell. Your consciousness will be trapped inside mine, sleeping until...I don’t know when. So just...stay awake. I know it’s comfortable, to rest and be dormant, but for your own sake, don’t fall asleep. Don’t drift too far or get too carried away.”

“...Ok,” Joshua whispered warily, holding tighter to Jeonghan’s hands. “I promise.”

Jeonghan softened at that, giving his hands a fond squeeze. “Hey, tell you what. If I feel you’re getting too sleepy, I’ll leave. If you get too close to the edge, I’ll just boot myself out, and that should work to bring you back to yourself. But don’t make me do all the work, alright?” The playful whack to his shoulder helped soothe Joshua somewhat, and he nodded, leaning in to put his forehead against Jeonghan’s leg.

“...Thank you, for keeping me safe,” he mumbled, and a warm, warm hand pet his hair.

“...I do it for us,” he said, equally as soft.

Us. Joshua liked the sound of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo  
> the whole consensual possession thing finally comes into play  
> ngl i really like this concept so please don't scream at me
> 
> updating Princess on the 25th and then again on the 1st of oct i know it's been a while oop  
> if i can get the next SL extra out on the 30th i will but again no promises im kinda struggling w the ch bc ~procrastination~ and ~lack of motivation~ but we chillin so i'll try to work on it  
> then again my running start college classes are starting in literally three days so no promises
> 
> anyway i love yall and take care of yourselves uwu  
> feel free to keysmash at me on [twt](https://twitter.com/SandyRoses6)  
> 

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to contact me on [twt](https://twitter.com/SandyRoses6)  
> please have fun reading ^-^ !!
> 
> ALSO SHOUT OUT TO USERS http_cosmolio, snowdropshua, mangscoups, Sunkissedjoons, shuanime, dreammoons, burnpledis, and anyone else i've forgotten for helping me along my way!! love u guys mwah mwah if i forgot someone PLEASE yell at me
> 
> tl;dr, thanks, writing chat <33


End file.
